No-knead trail mix bread!

The no-knead method makes homemade bread a whole lot more doable and takes so much of the stress out of making bread from scratch. We used dried apricot and cranberries but you could just as easily use dried figs, dates, or go tropical with mango, pineapple, and guava. As for the nuts, you could get exotic with pistachio, cashew, or hazelnuts.

Equipment

a very large mixing bowl

parchment paper

Dutch oven, approximately 10 inches diameter

Ingredients

390 grams bread flour (this is approximately 3 1/4 cups)

113 grams all purpose flour (this is a scant cup)

2 tsp salt

1 packet instant yeast

1 3/4 cups cool water

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Instructions

Note: read through the recipe first to familiarize yourself with the steps.

In a very large bowl whisk together the flours, salt, and yeast.

Whisking together dry ingredients for no knead bread

Stir in the cool water to make a sticky, shaggy dough,

Making no knead bread dough in a large glass bowl

Using clean hands, fold in all the fruit and nuts. Make sure you get them completely incorporated and evenly distributed.

Folding fruit and nuts into bread dough

Cover the dough with plastic cling wrap and put on the counter overnight, or up to 18 hours! Do not put the dough in a warm place, put it right on the counter. Note: be sure to use cling wrap or other airtight wrap because you don’t want the surface of your dough to dry out.

The dough will have become quite puffed and bubbly by the next morning.

Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and form it into a nice rounded loaf and place in the center of a large piece of parchment paper (mine is 12×16) forming dried fruit and nut bread into a loaf

Place the paper and loaf inside a Dutch oven (my pot is about 10″ in diameter.) Cover the pan and let rise in a warm spot for 2 hours. Note: it will puff slightly but it won’t rise really high.

After the bread has risen, make three shallow slashes across the top of the bread with a lame or a very sharp knife. This allows the bread to expand while baking. Put the cover on and place in a COLD oven.

Set the temperature to 450F and immediately set the timer for 40-50 minutes. After the timer goes off, remove the lid and bake another 10 minutes, until the internal temperature is 205F, give or take. Note: if you like to make bread be sure you’ve got an instant-read thermometer handy, it allows you to know for sure when your bread is done.

Remove the bread from the pan and let cool on a rack. You can dive right in while it’s warm, or let it cool completely, that’s your call.
Download Recipe Here

Nutrition

Calories: 282kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 390mg | Potassium: 153mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg